Shell filling and closing machine



March 21, 1939.

F. L. DREW SHELL FILLING AND CLOSING MACHINE Filed Jan. 6, 1936 OO'OOOO0 0 0 0 0 0 0 o o o o 52 24 o o o o 0 0 0 -0 0 0 0 0 o '0 o o o 0 o o o0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 o o O 0 o o o o o 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 o o o o o9 Sheets-Sheet l IN VENTOR.

FRANK L. DREW ATTORNEY.

March 21, 1939. F. 1.. DREW SHELL FILLING AND CLOSING MACHINE Filed Jan.6, 1936 9 Sheets-Sheet 2 2 5 0 n 2 A A u v m. a w M a n w m 1 .....m....:i. t u n u u u in n FBI I- i. Ilml #15:--. W m 1| m n 7 u 5 1 i m 65 ATTORNEY.

March 21, 1939. F. DREW SHELL FILLING AND CLOSING MACHINE Filed Jan. 6,1,936 9 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

FRANK L. DREW E W$ @426, {A

ATTORNEY.

Mam-ch- 21, 1939. F. DREW 2,150,913

SHELL FILLING AND CLOSING MACHINE Filed Jan. 6, 1936 9 Sheet-Sheet 4FIG. 4

INVENTOR.

FRANK L. DREW ATTORNEY.

F. L. DREW March 21, 193.

SHELL FILLING AND CLOSING MACHINE Filed Jan. 6, 1936 9 Sheets-Sheet 5INVENTOR.

FRANK L. DREW 0mm M, iv

ATTORNEY.

March 21, 1939. F. L. DREW 2,150,913

SHELL FILLING AND CLOSING MACHINE Filed Jan. 6, 1936 9 Sheets-Sheet 6 O0 90 O O O Q/ INVENTOR.

BY FRANK L. DREW ATTORNEY.

March 21, 1939. F. DREW SHELL FILLING AND CLOSI NG MACHINE Filed Jan. 6,1936 9 Sheets-Sheet '7 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

March 21, 1939. F. 1.. DREW SHELL FILLING AND CLOSING MACHINE Filed Jan.6, 1956 9 Sheets-Sheet 8 FIG. 7

INVENTOR.

FRANK L. DREW BY Mg. @422, ak

ATTORNEY.

March 21, 1939. DREW 2,150,913

SHELL FILLING AND CLOSING MACHINE Filed Jan. 6, 1936 9 Sheets-Sheet 9FIG. I0

INVENTOR.

BY FRANK L. DREW M 3 I ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 21, 1939 PATENT OFFICE SHELL G i enosm MACHINE 4% Cla.

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as

amended April 30,

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or forthe Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to him ofany royalty thereon. Y

5 My invention relates to improvements in machines for filling andclosing portable receptacles with liquid, and more especially to suchmachines for filling bombs or artillery shell and the like withpoisonous liquid chemicals.

The machine, herein described is of the turret or rotary type and has aseparate station for each principal operation. Since some shells areclosed by a screw cap and some by pressed fit cap, two forms of machineare herein described. '1 One object of the present invention is toprovide a filling and closing machine for shell or bombs which hasmaximum safety as regards accidents and in which the personnel isprotected from the liquid filler and the fumes thereof.

Another object of this invention is to provide a filling and closingmachine of the above indicated character in which a maximum number ofshells may be filled per man per hour, with a minimum of fioorarea permachine.

Another object oi this invention is to provide filling and closingmachines in which the shells may be filled to a constant level or with aconstant volume of liquid, and in which they may be closed by a screw orpress-fit device.

Other objects of this invention are to provide a shell filling andclosing machine having a minimum of exposed and irregular shaped partslikely to be contaminated by escaping liquid; which can be shippedassembled practically ready for op- 5 eration; and which can be operatedby ordinary skilled workmen after minimum instructions.

These and various other objects of this invention will be apparent fromthe following descrlption and appended claims, with the understandingthat the several necessary elements comprising the invention may bevaried in construction, proportion .and arrangement without departingfrom the spirit of the invention nor exceeding the scope of the appendedclaims.

i In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. l is a plan view of one machine adapted for closing the shells witha screw fitting;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is a right side elevation thereof;

Fig. 4 is a rear elevation thereof;

Fig. 5 is a section on line 5-5' of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a reduced section substantially on line 66 of Fig. 5 showingthe rotatable carrier with the shells removed;

Fig. 7 is a plan view of machine modified to fill and close shellshaving a press-fit closing device;

Fig. 8 is a right side elevation thereof;

Fig. 9 is a rear elevation thereof;

Fig. 10 is a section on line Ill-l0 of Fig. '1.

Referring now to Figs. 1 to 6, my improved machine includes a base 2t,top 2|, and standards 22, constituting the frame of the machine. Themachine has a rotatable section and requires four operators. At thefirst station an operator removes a filled and closed shell and'placesan empty shell on the rotatable section; at the next station theoperator raises the rotatable section with four shells thereon, fills anempty shell, lowers the turntable; at the next station the operatorinspects the filled shell and inserts the nose of the shell with fuze orbooster thereon;

and at the finalstation the operator secures the I nose into the shellto prevent leakage. These stations are indicated at il Fig. 1.

As seen in Fig. l, the upper member is in the form of a spider so thataccess may be had to the shells from above. The turntable, as seen inFigs. 5 and 6, comprises a cylinder 23 having a bottom 25 secured tocentral shaft 28 supported in bearing on base 28. Cylinder 23 has wings2d outstanding therefrom defining four chambers for the four shells onthe turntable.

Shaft 26 supports a spindle 2? for sliding movement thereon, and spindle2? has secured thereto a shell carrier comprising a central hub 28 withfour arms 29 each having a shell receiving platform 29 These platformsare positioned within the chambers defined by wings 26, as seen in 3Fig. 6. Each platform 29 is provided with 'a support 30 for firmlysupporting the shells in 82, Q3 and A l. on H upright position andcentrally positioned on the platforms.

The arms 28 project through slots in the cylinder 23, as seen in Fig. 6,the slots being closed by flaps 36. It will be seen that the cylinder 23and the shell carrier may rotate as a unit about the shaft 26. The shellcarrier including spindle 21, hub 28, anns 29, and platforms 29 may alsomove vertically. In order to raise the shell carrier a rope or chain 40is swiveled to the upper end of spindle 21 and is secured to a lever 38mounted on support 39 and having a handle 'accessible to the operator atstation 42. Lever 38 is counter-weighted as at,31 to partially balancethe mechanism to be raised including the shells mounted thereon.

In order that the operator at station 42 may be protected from the fumesof the chemical filling I tion 42 to provide an air operator at. station4| being placed in the shell, all filling is done within a closed hood45. Hood 45 is generally arcuate in top plan as seen in Fig. 1, and issubstantially U shaped in section with the open side facing the centerof the machine. The hood is slightly larger than the,win2s 24 and isopen at its two ends 45'.

At station 42 there is an opening in the top of hood 45 over which isplaced a vertically ex-' tending hood 50 provided with a transparentwindow 5! in its front wall. Vertical hood 50 supports a pipette 52connected to a three-way valve 53 having a handle 54 which extendsoutside the hood. A nozzle 55 is connected to valve 53 as are alsovacuum tank and trap 56 and supply line 51. When an empty shell isrotated into alignment with nozzle 55 and raised asshown in dotted linesin Figs. 2 and 5', valve handle 54 is turned to allow the liquid to fillpipette 52 from supply line 51, nozzle 55 being closed off and vacuumtank 56 applying suction to the nozzle. The valve is then turned tocut-oil supply line and the vac uum t k and allow the liquid in thepipette to flow i to the shell. The third position of the valve appliessuction to the nozzle to prevent any drippage after the shell has beenfilled and during rotation of the carrier.

In order that dangerous fumes from the liquid chemical filling may bedrawn ofi to prevent injury to the operators by contamination of theair, a suction conduit 58 is connected to the bottom of hood 45 beneathhood 50. From Fig. 1

it will be seen that hood 45 extends beyond stalock by the wings 24.

In order to avoid the hazard of the rotatable shell carrier being turnedwhilethe shells are in raised position, thus possibly overturning theshells, an interlock between the rotatable carrier and the stationarypart of the machine is provided, comprising two depending arms 64secured to the under side of stationary cover 2| and so spaced that oneof the arms 29 may pass therebetween when the shell carrier is raised.By this means the shell carrier may be rotated only when in its loweredposition and furthermore the carrier may not be raised unless the shellsare in alignment with their respective devices such as' the fillingnozzle and closing device, due to the oppositelyextending portions 65 onarms 64.

.At station 44, mechanism is provided for securely clamping the shellwhile the booster and fuze device is tightened, comprising a pair ofjaws '58 reciprocabl in a frame 51 mounted over an opening in stationaryframe member 21. Jaws 66 may be securely clamped to the shell afterraising by hand wheel 68 by way of screws 89. The fuze may then bescrewed tightly in place by a detachable wrench.

As seen from Fig. 1, hood station 43, a circular opening being providedin the top of the hood at this station through which the shell israised. There is a small clearance between this opening and the shell,causing a flow of air into the hood and carrying away any fumes.

The empty shells are transported to station 41 by a roller conveyor Hand. then to a ball transfer table 12, from whence they can be placed inthe machine. Filled shells are removed and placed on a similar conveyor13.

The operation of this form of my invention will be understood from theabove description. The. removes a filled and closed shell to the carrier13 and takes an empty shell from carrier II and places it in the holder30. At the same time, operator at station 42 raises 45 extends beyondthe rotatable carrier by handle 38, moves valve handle 54 to allow thefilling liquid to flow into pipette 52, then moves handle 54 to allowflow irom pipette 54 into an empty shell, then moves valve handle 54 tocut oil flow into the shell and place suction on the nozzle to preventdrippage and to draw back any excess.filllng. Then this operator lowersthe shell carriers, and they may be rotated.

If the shells on the carrier are not correctly aligned with the fillingnozzle and the clamping device, the arms 64 and extensions 65 preventraising of the carrier. Furthermore'these same members interlock withone of the arms 29 of the rotatable carrier to prevent rotation thereofwhen in raised position.

If the shells are being filled to a constant level of liquid, thefilling nozzle 55 is of such length as to just reach the level desired,whereby excess liquidwill be drawn back into the suction tank. If aconstant volume filling is desired, the end of nozzle 55 is above thenormal level of liquid in the shell, the correct volume being controlledby allowing the predetermined volume to enter pipette 52in accordancewith markings thereon.

While the filling is being accomplished, operator at station 43 inspectsthe filled shell and then inserts a booster and fuze and turns it downby hand. Also during this same time, operator at station 44 turns handwheel to clamp the jaws 66' about the raised and filled shell, thensecurely tightens the booster by a suitable wrench, then releases theshell from the jaws by reverse rotation of hand wheel 68. Y

Due to the suction applied at the nozzle after filling there can be-nodrippage to contaminate the exterior of the shells so they can behandled with safety. Furthermore, the suction of air through the hood 45by conduit 58 prevents the A escape of dangerous fumes. v

The machine shown in Figs. '7 to 10 is adapted for filling and-closingshells having a pressed-fit booster and fuze. Parts similar inconstruction to parts of the machine of Figs. 1 to 6 are designated bysimilar reference characters and need not be described in detail. Inthis form, the entire carrier with four shells thereon is not lifted asin the form previously described, but only the shell being filled islifted. The rotatable carrier comprises a cylinder having four sets ofwings 24 defining chambers for the shells Cylinder 80 has a bottomsecured to bearing shaft 86 guided by shaft 19 and supported in bearing81.

As in the previously described machine, the wall of cylinder 80 hasvertical slots closed by slidable flaps 36 and each shell carrier 28 hasan integral arm @2 projecting into cylinder 80 through openings inslidable flaps 35. The shell carriers 29 have short cylinders thereon,not shown, similar to cylinders 30, Fig. 5, for centering and holdingthe shells upright.

As in the prior form, the arcuate hood 45 is provided with vertical hood.50 having valve 53, filling nozzle 55 and pipette 52, and ventingsuction conduit 58. Each shell carrier 29 is free to move verticallyindependent of the others and is guided vertically by slotted guides 89mounted or wings 24, Fig. 7. The mechanism for raising thi shell beingfilled comprises a vertically movabh link 88 having a slotted lower end8 so positioned that the ends 82 of the shell carriers wil enter theslot when rotated to the filling station Link $8 may be raised by a ropeor chain 83 pass ing over pulleys 18 mounted on top of hood 50 t 25 willbe understood that banks of these filling and an accessible position forthe operator at filling station 42.

The operations at stations 4| and 43 are similar to those previouslydescribed. However, the operator at station '43 merely places thebooster and fuze in position on the shell but does not screw it into theshell.

At station 44, the machine has a heavy lower beam or anvil-9i suitablybraced and supported to withstand the stresses of a forced fit. Spacedabove anvil 9| isa frame 90 supporting a ram 94 having asuitableconfiguration to engage and force into place the booster and fuzedevice. Ram 941s movable vertically in frame 90 by a pinion 95 operatedby handle 93.

In order to relieve the rotarypart of the machine from any strains dueto the pressing operation the anvil 9| has its central upper surfaceslightly raised as at 96, whereby the shell carrier 29 rides upon andrests on this raised surface during the pressing operation.

The operation of the filling of the shells is the same as in the priorform as is also the removal of a filled shell and insertion of an emptyone, andthe inspection thereof at station 43. It

closing machines maybe so arranged that the conveyors for the empty andfilled shells may supply a group of machines, the conveyors leading toand from shipping or storage points.

By the use of the machines herein described, the filling of shells orbombs with dangerous liquids is greatly expedited with entire safety tothe personnel.

While Ihave shown and described the preferred embodiment of thisinvention, it is to be-understood'that I do not confine myself to theprecise details of construction herein set forth by way of illustration,as it is apparent that many changes and variations may be made thereinbythose skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of theinvention nor exceeding the scope of the appended claims.

, I claim: V

1. A filling and closing machine for shells,

bombs and the'like comprising a hood substantially arcuate in plan andchannel-shaped in section with the opensicle of the channel facinginwardly, a rotary shell canier having means to support four shells inupright position, said shell carrier having acylindrical wall whichsubstantially closes the open side of said-hood and havingwingswhich maypassthroughthehoodto substantially close the same, a shell clampingdevice'including means to grip a shell and prevent turning thereofwhereby a closure member may be securely applied to the shell, adownwardly extending filling nozzle, and common means to simultaneouslyraise said rotary shell can'ier to position an empty shell in proximityto said filling nozzle and a filled shell within said clamping device. 7

2. A filling and closing machine for shells, bombs, and the like havinga filling station and a closing station a stationary hood at the fillingstation having a downwardly extending filling nozzle therein, a rotaryshell carrier having a plurality of shell supporting platforms eachcapable of independent vertical movement, said shell carrier beingarranged so that the platforms and shells may pass through thestationary filling hood when the carrier isrotated, a lifting device atthe filling station for raising one platform and shell, including-avertically movable hook, an arm on each shell platform engageable withsaid hook when its shell is beneath the filling nozzle, saidcarrierhaving wings on both sides of each platform which substantiallyclose the hood when a shell isin filling position.

3. A filling and closing machine for shells, bombs, and the like havinga hood arcuate in plan and substantially section, means to continuouslywithdraw air and fumes from said hood, a rotary shell carrier having acylindrical wall and radial wings to sub stantially close the hood whena shell is in filling position, means on the carrier to support aplurality of shells in upright position, a filling nozzle at the fillinghood, the cylindrical wall of the carrier having a plurality of verticalslots, radially extending arms projecting through said slots for raisingand lowering shells ,into proximity to said nozzle, and sliding shieldson each arm to substantially close said slots in all positions, wherebyfumes may not escape from the hood through the slots.

4. The invention as defined in claim 2 wherein said closing station hasa pressure closing device and an anvil directly below the same, saidanvil having an upwardly sloping surface upon which each shell platformrides as it approaches the closing station, whereby the shell beingclosed and its platform are entirely supported by the anvil.

c FRANK L. DREW.

channel shaped in cross

